Faded Images
by in-search-of-silence
Summary: Harry looks back and tries hard not to let the memory of the boy he once loved fade. WARNINGS: HPCD SLASH AU, rewrite of GoF
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter**** 1**

Harry looks at the black and white pictures in his hand, it all seems so surreal, like nothing of it ever happened, that the looks and smiles were never shared, that fingers and palms never slipped underneath wispy cotton, that the hot kisses tracing lips and neck was never there, it was like it had all been a dream, and Harry had nothing but the pictures left, in that wooden box lay all his faith, all his hopes, dreams, belief and strength to go on.

He knew that it would soon be his turn, he would soon be reunited with his love, his family, his godfather, his mentor and headmaster for six years, everyone he had ever cared for, and soon he would see them again… but not yet, just not yet.

Before that, he had to finish his task in life.

Harry rose from the bed, one of the photographs falling to the floor as he did so, he picked it up and smiled. There was Cedric, smiling, wrapping his arms around Harry from behind. Harry on the photograph looked dreamingly into Cedric's grey eyes. The photograph had been taken during the summer between Harry's fourth and fifth year just a couple of weeks before the Diggory house had been stormed by death eaters, and Cedric had been…

Harry felt the tears coming and abruptly put the photo back into the chest…

It had all started at the Quidditch World cup, when faith in a peculiar way had decided to give Cedric a helping hand and Harry a push in the right direction.

Before that Cedric had during Harry's third year found interest in the younger boy.

He just hadn't had the courage to do something about it, he was after all, much older, and the chance of Harry having any sort of interest in him was minimal. When he for the first time met the other seeker in a game, it was raining heavily and thunder disturbed the otherwise cheery mood of the Quidditch match. When several dementors showed up at the pitch, Cedric was forced to an ultimatum; it was either saving Harry from a dreadful fall, possibly crushing some of his bones hitting the ground, or catching the snitch that fluttered about right in front of him, most likely giving him the appreciation of his father and house mates.

For Cedric at the time, the answer was obvious; he turned his broomstick on the spot and caught Harry a few feet above ground.

Harry was, at the time being, still confused over anything that had to do with love; he was after all only fourteen. But waking up, finding that he was carried up the staircases of Hogwarts castle by a handsome boy with the most stunning grey eyes and strong arms, Harry for the first time, felt perfectly safe. This was odd because before, he had never really liked grey.

"Hey…" The other boy said as he noticed that he was awake.

"Where are you taking me?" Harry asked though he felt that he didn't really care.

"To the hospital wing, you fell of your broomstick, I caught you in time before you hit the ground but Madame Hooch insisted that you'd get some rest and ordered me to take you to Madame Pomfrey." Harry nodded and found that he liked the other boy's voice, it calmed him. He closed his eyes and fell into a steady sleep.

After that, he didn't see Cedric again, more than when he noticed him at the Hufflepuff table, passed him in the corridor or greeting him briefly in the great hall.

Until the day of the Quidditch world cup…

It was early morning when he and the Weasley's finally reached the place where the so called portkey was supposed to be placed, Harry was pacing the area, searching for anything that could be used as a portkey when a shout broke the silence.

"Over here Arthur!" Harry immediately turned his attention in the direction of the shouting; all he could see was two tall figures against the night sky. But as they all walked closer, his heart skipped a beat; one of the figures was none other than Cedric Diggory!

During the following couple of minutes, when the other figure was introduced to him as Cedric's father, Amos Diggory and he in his turn was introduced to Amos, he had a hard time not to glance at Cedric. He looked, if possibly, even more handsome than the year before.

"Cedric has indeed been talking about you." Amos said and Harry's heart skipped a beat again, Cedric had been talking about him? But then… why would he care? "He told me about that Quidditch game last year when he saved you from a nasty fall from your broom. A really brave boy my son, and a good flyer too. It was obvious that if it hadn't been for Cedric's bravery he would have caught the snitch and won the game, that's for sure."

"Dad! There is nothing that says that I would have caught the snitch before Harry did!" Cedric blushed slightly.

"Well… I'll just say this, one boy falling of his broom and one still sitting on his, its quite clear who's the better flyer"

"Dad!" Cedric was still blushing but the tiny hint of anger in his voice was very easy for Harry to detect.

"Well, I guess it's time to go." Mr. Weasley kindly shot in. He and Amos started walking away, discussing the lack of tickets and whether or not they needed to wait for someone else. Harry felt someone tugging at his sleeve. He turned around to find that it was Cedric.

"I'm sorry about my father… he's just… well, I'm his only son and he thinks very highly of me." He was looking at the ground. Harry smiled and placed a reassuring hand on the other boy's shoulder.

"Hey… it's okay. I understand. He puts you under a lot of pressure sometimes huh?" Cedric finally looked up, letting Harry drown for a moment in what was Cedric's amazing grey pools for eyes.

"Yeah, I guess he does, sometimes, it's a bit hard to handle." He smiled a broad smile and Harry could do nothing but smile back. The moment was interrupted by Mr. Weasley calling their names.

"Come on boys! We're leaving!" Harry remembered watching Cedric when grabbing for the boot, and for the first time of many to come, he felt a slight tingle when Cedric's hand touched his.

"Three… two… one" Mr Weasley's one was practically drowned in the sound of wind as Harry and the others were pulled into a whirlwind of colour and almost as sudden as it had started, he felt his feet hit the ground with a thud, the surprise making him stumble and fall to the ground. Half a second later, he had a hand in his face; he followed the arm and met a pair of grey eyes and a broad grin.

"First time's always rough." Cedric chuckled. Harry grabbed the offered hand and let the other boy pull him up; Cedric may have put a bit too much strength in this though because it left Harry only millimetres from Cedric's body. He felt how his heart beat faster than usual and he looked up at the brunet.

"Thanks." He managed to whisper.

"You're welcome…" Cedric whispered back… raising his free hand, tracing the line of Harry's jaw for a brief moment before he realized what he was doing and let it drop. "W… we should go now." He stuttered.

Harry pulled back, feeling a bit empty as he let go of Cedric's hand. "Yeah we should. The others are already far ahead." He agreed. The both of them walked in silence for a while before both of them broke the silence at the same time.

"So… I was wondering if you'd like to… you know, hang out sometime once we're back at Hogwarts." Harry blurted.

"I was wondering whether you'd like to meet again later, for the game I mean." Cedric said at the same time. They looked at each other and then gazed back at the ground, blushing slightly.

"I'd love to." They said, again at the same time. This time they just laughed at their foolishness.

"Great. Then I'll see you later." Cedric said as they caught up with the others.

"Sure." Harry replied. Hermione shot him a questioning glance. "He's going to meet up with us later so that we all can see the game together." Harry said casually. Hermione nodded.

"That was nice of you Harry." She smiled at him. He smiled back.

Later that evening, about twenty minutes before the start of the match, Cedric entered the Weasley's tent with his father right behind him. He turned to look for Harry who sat in one of the chairs, reading his program for the evening. He looked up just as the Hufflepuff entered the tent, like he had sensed that he was there, and received a smile and a small wink from the other boy. Cedric greeted Bill Charlie and Percy that had all apparated to the camp.

"We thought we could accompany you to the game." Cedric said. Harry walked next to Cedric all the way to the arena, feeling like nothing in the world could destroy this evening for him, unfortunately, he was wrong.

Later that night the camp was attacked by death eaters, chaos broke loose and Harry, Ron and Hermione was found underneath the Dark mark, followed by being accused for conjuring said sign too. But Harry could think of nothing else but Cedric, wondering if he was alright, hoping that the older boy hadn't been hurt or worse... killed.

Not until Amos Diggory himself told him that Cedric was safe in the tent did Harry relax.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

The next day Mr Weasley woke them up early, they gathered their belongings and left the camp as quick as they possibly could.

Harry found himself disappointed that the Diggory's weren't travelling with them this time.

Back at the Burrow, Molly had worried herself sick and was beyond relieved when they all came home in one piece. She even pulled Fred and George into a tight hug that nearly killed the twins.

Then followed day after day with worry and anxiousness at the Weasley's, since Arthur worked for the ministry, he was constantly busy and working. Harry was happy when the day for their journey back to Hogwarts arrived. He ignored the slight flutter in his stomach at the thought of Cedric's promise for them to hang out sometime once they were back at school. Hang out was something friend's normally did, why on earth would he be nervous over that?

Once at the station, Harry immediately spotted Cedric in the crowd, the brunet noticed him all the same and smiled and waved in his direction. Harry's heart beat just a bit faster as the tall Hufflepuff made his way through the crowd towards him. Once he stood in front of him. He didn't seem to know what to say, but looked around briefly before leaning closer, breath warming Harry's ear, causing him to shiver slightly, and quietly whispering.

"You haven't forgotten what you said about us hanging out sometime, maybe play some Quidditch and talk a bit?" Harry smiled slightly.

"I would never forget something like that." He whispered back. Cedric smiled a content smile.

"Bye then Harry, I'll see you around." He greeted.

"Sure." Harry replied, before following Ron and Hermione in to the train.

"What was that all about?" Ron asked.

"Oh, Cedric was simply asked if I would like to seeker practice with him sometime. You know, seeker practice is a heck lot easier when you're not alone." Ron nodded in approval before the trio started their search for a compartment.

The journey to Hogwarts took much less time than usual it felt like. He was slightly worried about the fact that Sirius had not answered to his letter, but then, as Hermione said, he could be anywhere.

When they arrived to Hogwarts, the weather had changed, it was raining heavily and lightning lit up the sky every now and then. They took the carriages up to Hogwarts but had to walk the last bit up to the castle, leaving them completely soaked. Peeves amused himself with dropping waterbaloons at the students in the entrance hall until McGonnagall threatened him with fetching Dumbledore. The three of them proceeded in to the great hall where they passed the Slytherin, Rawenclaw and Hufflepuff table before getting seated at the Gryffindor's at the furthest end of the hall. Harry caught Cedric's eye at the nearby Hufflepuff table and smiled.

The sorting and dinner passed with no further problems or strange events, it was not until after dessert, when Dumbledore yet again rose to speak, that something surprising happened. Harry had presumed that it was to be the ordinary speech and was busy thinking about a certain Hufflepuff when he heard something that caught his attention.

"It is also my painful duty to inform you all that the inter-house Quidditch Cup will not take place this year." Harry turned and looked at Ron, who looked shocked just as everyone else at the table; he turned his head and found that Cedric looked at him mimicking a "What?" in his direction, Harry just shrugged.

"This is due to an event that will be starting in October and continuing throughout the school year, taking up much of the teachers' time and energy – but I am sure you will all enjoy it immensely. I have great pleasure that in this year at Hogwarts…" Dumbledore was interrupted by a loud rumble of thunder as the doors to the great hall opened and in stepped a man. When he walked up to Dumbledore, every other step made a clunking noise, implying that the mysterious man had only one real leg. He also had an eye that twisted around and sometimes, Harry felt like the man was looking at him even though he was turned the other way. The man was soon introduced as Alastor "Mad Eye" Moody and was to be their new Defence against the dark arts teacher. The entire Great hall was tense and no one seemed to know what to do until Dumbledore decided to finish up with his speech.

"As I was saying, we are to have the honour of hosting a very exciting event over the coming months, an event which hasn't been held in a century. It is my very great pleasure to inform you that the Triwizard tournament will be taking place at Hogwarts this year."

"You're JOKING!" Fred Weasley said loudly, and it immediately relieved the tension that had lingered in the room since Moody entered.

"I am not joking Mr. Weasley." Dumbledore assured him.

After getting to know that this Tri Wizard tournament had been created 700 years ago and that it was a competition between the three largest wizardring schools in Europe, Durmstrang, Beauxbatons and Hogwarts, Dumbledore told them that it had worked as a way for wizards from other countries to meet and tie bonds of friendship. That had worked fine, until the numbers of people dying in the tournament had increased. It was also made clear that only students over the age of seventeen were allowed to compete, something that annoyed the Weasley twins to the highest. The price sum was at a thousand galleons, something the twins wouldn't mind the chance of winning.

As they left the Great hall, Ron told Harry how much he would want to compete in the tournament while Harry told him that they probably didn't know enough to compete yet, there had to be a reason why they had decided to put an age limit on it, and as Hermione so nicely implied, students had gotten killed before. Harry found himself wondering if Cedric was going to compete as he crawled underneath the sheets…

Perhaps he should ask him.

The next morning Harry woke up before sunrise and decided to go up, he couldn't fall asleep again anyway. He got out of bed and headed for the showers. After clearing his mind with cool water he got dressed and headed out through the fat lady's portrait. The sun was just rising and the jagged glass windows threw rainbow colours all over the hallways. He rounded a corner and to his big surprise, he found Cedric Diggory walking in the direction he was himself coming from. Cedric smiled at him and stopped.

"Hi Harry." He said cheerfully. "You're up early"

"So are you. I thought I might head for early breakfast so that I could go out for a walk around the lake before morning classes." He said.

"That sounds nice, I was just heading for the library, I've been in the prefects bathroom… a bath in the mornings helps me relax and clear my mind." Harry could not help but notice the slight blush on the Hufflepuff's cheeks as he added the last.

"Oh… do you have any important business in the library or can you change the plans…?" Harry was worried that Cedric would say no but the other boy lit up in a broad smile.

"Nothing important at all actually, just thought I could… read Quidditch through the ages… again. I still have to get my own copy of that book." He chuckled slightly and the sound made Harry smile.

"So? Do you want to have breakfast with me? At this time there is probably no one there anyhow." Cedric nodded.

"I'd love to." And the boys left for breakfast.

It turned out that Harry had been right about the Great Hall, it was empty except for a couple of first year Rawenclaws with their heads buried in books, very much alike how Hermione always looked while concentrating on Arthimancy homework. Harry looked between the two tables.

"So… your table or mine?" He asked Cedric.

"The candles on yours are lit. Let's sit there." Harry realized that he hadn't even noticed that fact, probably someone from Gryffindor had already eaten. They sat down on the side of the table facing the wall and threw themselves at the food. Harry found himself quite hungry when he came to think of it. Cedric laughed as Harry loaded his toast with scrambled eggs and bacon before pressing another slice of toast on top of it.

"What?" He asked with his mouth full.

"No it just… are you always this hungry in the mornings?" Harry chewed and swallowed before answering that one.

"Imagine yourself not eating any breakfast, for eleven years, then spending every summer after that not having any either." He said, Cedric looked at him, his grey eyes wide.

"You didn't get any breakfast at your aunt and uncle's?... that is where you live huh? At least that's what I've heard."

"Yeah." Harry nodded. "U can't say I enjoyed myself. I was happy if I got any lunch at all and leftovers for dinner. You know… I hadn't even tasted scrambled eggs until I got here."

"Oh god… I'm so sorry… I didn't mean to… you know…" He stammered. Harry just smiled.

"It's alright. I mean, I'm here now, and I can eat as much of it as I like." He laughed and Cedric joined him. Once finished with their breakfast, they proceeded out in the entrance hall, Harry looked around.

"So…? Now what?" He asked. Cedric frowned.

"I thought you said something earlier about going for a walk around the lake… Why don't we do that?"

"Yeah, yeah I guess I did, I just wasn't sure you wanted to come with me or not." Harry didn't know why he felt like that, and he didn't know why he admitted it to Cedric, it just felt right.

"Of course I do." The other boy protested.

"Well then, what are we waiting for?" Said and done, the boys walked out through the oak doors and were met by the warmth of the morning sun. It was a calm morning and the wind didn't blow more than necessary, though it still left Cedric's cheeks glowing pink. Harry soon found that Cedric was the kind of person that it was very easy to talk to. He found himself telling Cedric things about his childhood that he had never spoken easily about before. Cedric in his turn told Harry about life as a spoiled-only child. That was, spoiled as long as he did things that pleased his father. His father wanted him to be someone. He also found out that Cedric actually struggled for his grades and that he wasn't the natural-talent that Harry had thought him to be.

But as comes with good things, time flies away too fast, and Harry soon found himself with only five minutes left until he should be present in a classroom at the fifth floor.

"Sorry Cedric, I have to run, and I guess that so do you." Cedric gazed at the clock and cursed silently.

"Erm yeah… I do. I guess I'll see you later then." He said staring at the ground.

"Of course." Harry said with no doubt in his voice. "Where are you going?" He asked Cedric who had turned and started walking towards the greenhouses.

"Herbology." He said with a grin. Harry nodded and realized that there was not a chance that he'd make it in time.

He ran for it anyway.

He entered the classroom only two minutes delayed. Hermione looked worriedly at him.

"Where were you mate?" Ron whispered. "You weren't in bed when I got up and you weren't at breakfast either. We worried about you." He gesticulated at Hermione who was ignoring the fact that they were talking.

"I was just taking a walk around the lake, I kind of lost track of time." He said, he wasn't lying after all, that was what had happened. Ron accepted this for an apology and moved on to doodling at a piece of parchment. Harry tried to stay alert but for some reason he couldn't help drifting away just a little, and when he did, he saw broad, toothy smiles and grey eyes glittering in the sun.


End file.
